Rocker birthday

Emily attended a friend's birthday this weekend at the "groovy pad"...they dressed up as rockers, karaoked (is that a word?), had nails painted blue sparkle and had hair done rocker style. She got an inflatable black guitar....and star sunglasses. Check out the do....

Tara went to Laser Quest for a birthday party and had a great time too. She said the vest was heavy...and after 2 games, that was enough. Sorry, I didn't get there soon enough to get any pictures.

Recorder karate -done!

Tara has completed her "black belt" in recorder karate. She was very successful and had a great time learning. We know her piano lessons have really helped her succeed in music so far.

Happy Arbor day

To celebrate Earth day and Arbor day and just because we thought it was time for some cheaper fruit, we planted 6 trees last week. Here they are lined up in our yard. Behind them is our garden.

It's baseball time

Jacob has had 3 games already. And we went to the Smokies Baseball game on Saturday night. He got to parade around the field with his team the "Angels" and coach Duckworth and see the pros up close. He thought it was totally awesome. We enjoyed the game and forgot all about how "boring" baseball can be when we saw all our friends from school and ate good food like Tara's chilli dog and Emily's popcorn and Jacob's blue cotton candy.

"Nerf Big Blaster" helps in so many ways...

So, we convinced Jacob to use his nerf shooter to get his front tooth out. He finally was brave enough last night. Watch to see what happens. AFV here we come!

Lemonade

Here is the video clip of Jacob singing his lemonade song. I don't know all the words, but have remembered a few phrases. Sorry it's been a little while. Enjoy!

"Sweet or sour every hour , try a glass or two..
just a nickle for a trickle...get your lemonade I made for you
..Don't be bashful, try a glass full, it will make your day..

..if you are feeling down, it will pick you up....
..if you need a quencher, get yourself a pitcher.
Pour it over ice in a dixie cup..
...Get your lemonade, Right Here!"

Chocolate Gardens

This week was fun. At the last minute I was asked to host the recipe club this week entitled "death by chocolate". It was alot of fun. As you can see in the picture, it was alot of chocolate. I will get recipes to anyone who wants them.
I also learned how to make beaded bracelets. The girls and I have decided this is our new favorite hobby. I'll get a photo up soon.
I substituted the pre-k class again. I only did because my friend Shannon is the new assistant (she was PTA pres. with me last year)...it was fun with her...and a little more relaxed since only 11 kids were there.
Tara was invited to a behavior party...she had perfect behavior for the past 9 weeks. They got icecream sundaes and extended recess. The extended recess consisted of walking to the other park about 1/2 mile away. Good thinking teachers!
Gene took a couple of days off and we went to find apple, cherry and peach trees. We also purchased all the necessities of starting our garden. Such as seeds, fertilizer and some small plants. We toned it down this year..only 4 tomato plants...we always plant too much. Wouldn't it be great to grow chocolate?
As you can see from the pictures this year finally everybody helped. When it got too hot, Jacob and Emily went inside and they actually made lunch for all of us.

Jacob had another baseball practice and is learning quickly. His team is the "Angels" and they get to go on the field at a Smokies game on Saturday for fun. Maybe that will be the best way to teach him the game.
Emily had a bit of an upset stomach this morning so we only went to the first hour of church and Gene spoke in the Pelissippi ward today.
I get to sub Emily's class tomorrow. Mrs. Shannon is in Florida visiting her new grand baby. Yeah me! Emily wrote a note on the fridge. "Mom comes with me to school tomorrow, ok?" It's a good thing she reminded me...she knows I forget alot of things lately. I left our shoes muddy from the garden outside and it rained all day on them.....then I forgot my scriptures for church. Tara said very lovingly this morning. "Mom, you should really use a check list." Yes, I should.

Happy Easter! We sucessfully taught all three children how to eat the ears off a chocolate bunny. We practiced by teaching fractions for a review for Tara. We have to save the bunny for all week. You can only eat 1/5 of the bunny today....so, we concluded, that must be just the ears for today.
The pictures are of Jacob right before his first baseball practice. He absolutely loved all parts of the game. He hit the ball (coach pitch), ran the bases. Caught the ball...ok a ground ball...and threw very well. He was exhausted after, but very very happy. We should get his uniform this week.
I made the girls skirts for easter. Emily isn't smiling in this one, because Gene and his car made it home from church before I did and everyone changed into play clothes. I made her change back into her skirt to get a picture, so, that is why she looks so sad. Tara is sporting the skirt I made out of Gene's old ties.
Emily is holding a letter for the easter bunny...it says "Dear bunny,I do not want eny jelly beans. Love, Emily"

I don't have any pictures this week. I know, so boring!
Gene has been gone for almost 2 weeks. Chicago first, home for 18 hours and then on a plane to Oxford. He had a good time and an easy trip (comparitavely). We have been lucky to have him home with no trips for almost 6 months...so, it was a bit of a shock to the kids to have him gone. We all made it through and are doing generally well.
We got outdoors this weekend, cleaned and vacuumed the cars, mowed the lawn, finally burned the wood pile that has been sitting in our backyard for close to 2 years from the pine tree we had taken out. We took advantage of the moment, got out our marshmellows (yum) and then wrapped chicken, peppers and onions in aluminum foil for dinner. In 40 min. our dinner was ready...it was ready before we were. We were sunburned thinking we were only going to be out for a few minutes but, got caught up in yardwork. The funny thing about that is while we were nursing sunburns Monday morning, we looked out the window to snow! Amazing , truly amazing the weather in April! Shorts one day, sweaters the next.
We watched alot of conference live...but, have recorded the rest to catch up. I didn't substitute at all last week. So, i took the time to make a skirt for Tara out of Gene's old neckties. (I'll try to get a picture). I also put together a large recipe file to get rid of all the little pieces of paper around my kitchen. Another day I really cleaned. I found super scary things like lone cricket legs and spider webs and polly pocket shoes, etc. This week I worked twice. My favorite was Mr. Willson's music class (Tara came to music that day .She is the only student out of all 3 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes I taught that day who is taking piano ....and we got to eat lunch together).
Tara lost 2 teeth in one night. She just came up to me and said, "mom, these are loose, can you help me? There was nothing connected, they were just sitting there. It was amazing. She went with me last night to a mini enrichment mtg...of line dancing! She and I both loved it. We learned the electric slide and boot scootin' boogie and 2 others I can't remember the names of.
Jacob starts baseball tomorrow.
Tara starts TCAP tests next week.